


Candle Light

by lelystra



Series: pick me (nayana) [2]
Category: Produce 101 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Day of School, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 00:24:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12096660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lelystra/pseuds/lelystra
Summary: "I’ll go to you carefullyAs if I can touch you but I can’tI’ll close the narrow distance between us"- the.the.the





	Candle Light

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place a year before The Arrival of Spring/The Bitterness of Winter but this functions as a standalone.   
> I just can't get over how Yongguk is such a bully to Shihyun.

“Yongguk hyung!”

Something fast reached out and grabbed his waist. Instinctively, he put his hands out to shove whatever it was, away.

Oh, it was Shihyun. He was standing in his doorway with a giant enthusiastic smile on his baby looking face. Why was this kid here again? Yongguk thought. Didn’t I leave him behind in middle school?

“Don’t you remember me? We were friends in middle school.” Shihyun gave him a sad puppy face.

“We were not friends. We just got paired up all the time.” Yongguk scowled thinking about all the times he had to deal with Shihyun’s shit. Just because their last names were both Kim, they were constantly put together all the time to the point where people thought they were best friends. Well they were wrong.

“You do remember me!” He was back to his sunny smile. Yongguk wanted to close the door on him and go back to sleep.

“So what do you want?”

“I’m moving in.”

“Great, bye.”

He moved to shut the door until he processed what Shihyun just said. Peering back cautiously at his still beaming face, he confirmed his worst nightmare when Shihyun held up his school ID card.

“I start my first year at Mnet High this week. I’m assigned to be your roommate.”

Yongguk let the door swing open as he staggered back and fell onto his bed. Was this seriously happening? Why could he never get rid of this kid?

Shihyun immediately started bringing in his stuff, taking Yongguk’s actions to mean, “Come on in.” He chattered excitedly about his past year, updating him on their middle school and old friends.

Yongguk just stared up at the paneled ceiling in despair. If I close my eyes and pretend not to hear him, maybe he’ll go away, he thought.

“What do you think?”

His eyes flashed open and met with Shihyun’s face looming over him. He jerked away as Shihyun propped his elbows on his bed.

“Get off my bed.” He muttered. Shihyun didn’t move and continued to talk.

“What is high school like? Can I make friends? Are there mean people? Are the teachers nice? I want to do well. What are your friends like? Can I meet them? We should do clubs together.”

His endless barrage felt like hail on a metal roof to Yongguk. He didn’t want to introduce him to his friends and he didn’t want to hang out with him either.

“Meow.” Tolbi suddenly popped up from underneath the blankets, saving him.

“Tolbi!” Shihyun opened his arms for an embrace. Tolbi simply went back under the blankets. Yongguk couldn’t help but smirk.

“You know the pecking order.” Shihyun gave a small sigh in response, looking deflated.

“And you never change.” He mumbled. He left Yongguk’s side to put away his things on his side of the room.

“Did you get permission to keep a cat?”

“Do I need permission?”

The dorm manager had seen him bring Tolbi in earlier this week. “Clean up its messes and don’t damage the furniture,” was all he said.  

“Well, I don’t think animals are allowed in the dorms. Where do you even keep his litter box?” Shihyun opened his closet door and found his answer. He gave Yongguk a look of exasperation that made him grin back.

“Fine, he can have his litter box here.” He huffed despite Yongguk not asking him yet. “But you have to clean it up.”

As Shihyun unpacked, his clothes and belongings started to get scattered around the room. Annoyed, Yongguk pushed them all over to Shihyun’s side. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. Going to his desk he opened a drawer to pull out duct tape.

“What are you…”

He started the tape at the wall and spread it right down the middle of the room to the door. Shihyun watched him with sad eyes.

“Stay on your side of the room.” He ordered. “Hyung…” Shihyun sounded devastated. Yongguk didn’t care.

 

\----

 

The next morning Shihyun was back to his bright and cheerful self which irritated him. After getting ready and taking care of Tolbi he gave a last word of advice to Shihyun.

“If you talk to me at school, I will pretend like I don’t know you.”

He left first only to hear Shihyun follow out the door seconds later. They walked down the hall together until they got the dorm front door at which point Yongguk had had enough.

“Don’t walk with me. I don’t want to be next to you.”

“I’m going to school too.” Shihyun protested but he had already turned away.

He exited the building and headed towards school. After a few moments he saw a shadow trailing about three meters behind him. Sighing, he decided to just go to school.

 

\----

 

As the day progressed, Yongguk forgot Shihyun even existed. That is, until choir.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Shihyun wave excitedly to him from the front row. He mouthed, “Hyung!”

Yongguk looked down at his sign up sheet in his hands and then to the submission pile in front of him. It was really a shame. He’d enjoyed choir last year. Even made some friends.

Without a second’s hesitation, he ripped his sheet in half and tossed it in the trash on the way out.

It was better this way.

 

\----

 

At the end of the day Yongguk decided to just head home. He was tired from getting used to school again and from dealing with Shihyun. As he made the soon to be familiar trek, someone raced past him and stood dead in front of him, panting.

It was Shihyun. Of course it was Shihyun. He held his arms and legs out in an X pose and had a determined expression on his face. Yongguk started to step around him but Shihyun grabbed his arm with an iron grip.

“Let’s get ice cream, hyung.” He invited then tugged Yongguk’s arm for him to follow.

“My mom said not to accept candy from strangers.” He answered dryly, pulling himself in the opposite direction.

“Well, I’m not a stranger and I want to eat ice cream with you so we’re going.” Shihyun increased his strength and and pulled like it was a tug of war.

Yongguk sighed and looked around before letting himself be dragged. “You don’t even know where to go,” he mumbled. But to his surprise, Shihyun did. Rather than the popular candy shop downtown, Shihyun had taken him to the more isolated restaurant on the outskirts.

Yongguk still made him order separately and pretended not to know him, but he kind of appreciated the effort. Not that he’d ever let Shihyun know.

“Here.” Shihyun held out a cone of pistachio ice cream. It was his favorite. He turned his head away while accepting it. Shihyun had his own cone of chocolate in his other hand.

They sat on opposite ends of a bench outside. For once there was only silence between them as they ate their ice cream.

Yongguk was suddenly overcome by curiosity and couldn’t help but sneak peeks at Shihyun. Despite treating him so coldly, he was still kind to him. Not many people were like that.

He finished his cone before Shihyun and stood up to throw away the wrapper. Shihyun immediately stood up too and followed him to the trash.

“You can sit.”

“But then you’ll leave.” He saw a flash of desperation in Shihyun’s eyes and felt a wave of guilt. “Just finish your cone.”

They sat back down again. Shihyun rushed through the rest of his ice cream, finishing it in minutes. He glanced at Yongguk nervously when he didn’t move.

“This doesn’t change anything, by the way. I still don’t want you to talk to me at school.” He finally spoke.

“Only at school?”

“It can’t be helped in the room since we live together.”

Shihyun nodded seriously. Another moment passed.

“Thanks for the ice cream.” Yongguk finally said, not daring to check Shihyun’s reaction. Abruptly, he got up and started walking away. Despite Shihyun being three meters behind him, he already knew that he had a smile like sunshine on his face.

That was probably a mistake, he thought to himself. Now he’s going to bother me all night at home. Yet, the corners of his lips couldn’t help but curl up.


End file.
